Home → WV Guide → Planting Guide → Cool Season → Turnips — Brassica rapa subsp. rapa

Turnips — Brassica rapa subsp. rapa

Growing resilience through ancient wisdom and modern practice

← Back

Turnips — Brassica rapa subsp. rapa

layout: base.njk title: Turnips description: Growing Turnips in West Virginia (Zone 6b/7a) category: cool-season

Purple and white turnip roots
Quick Reference: See detailed growing information below

Type: Biennial (grown as annual)
Family: Brassicaceae (Cruciferae)
Sun: Full sun to part shade (6+ hours)
Water: Moderate (1-1.5" per week, consistent moisture prevents woodiness)
Soil pH: 6.0-7.5 (optimal 6.5-7.0)
Hardiness: Zones 2-11 (very cold hardy, flavor improves with frost)

🌱 Expected Yield

  • Per plant: 0.5-2 lbs per root (variety-dependent). Greens: 4-8 oz per plant (cut-and-come-again).
  • Per 10' row: 15-40 lbs roots. 5-10 lbs greens.
  • Per season: With succession planting: 40-80 lbs per 10' row annually (roots + greens).

🏺 Heirloom Varieties (5-10+)

White/Purple-Top Turnips

'Purple Top White Globe'

  • Source: Seed Savers Exchange, Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds (rareseeds.com), Johnny's Selected Seeds (johnnyseeds.com)
  • Days: 50 days
  • Notes: Classic American heirloom. Large, round roots (5-6" diameter) with purple tops, white bottoms. White flesh. Sweet, mild when young. Traditional for cooking. Excellent for mashing, roasting. Cold hardy. Stores well.

'Tokyo Cross'

  • Source: Johnny's Selected Seeds, Baker Creek
  • Days: 35 days
  • Notes: Hybrid, F1. Small, white, round roots (2-3"). Very fast. Sweet, tender. Excellent for salads, roasting whole. All-America Selections winner. Uniform. Doesn't get woody quickly.

'Hakurei'

  • Source: Johnny's Selected Seeds, Baker Creek, Seed Savers Exchange
  • Days: 38 days
  • Notes: Japanese hybrid. Small, white, round. Exceptionally sweet, tender—can eat raw like apple. Thin skin, no peeling needed. Delicious roasted, sautéed. Prized by chefs. Bolts quickly in heat. Best for spring and fall.

'White Egg'

  • Source: Seed Savers Exchange, Baker Creek
  • Days: 45 days
  • Notes: Heirloom. Oval, white roots. Sweet, mild. Good for early harvest. Tender texture. Traditional variety. Reliable producer.

Golden/Yellow Turnips

'Golden Ball' (Orange Jelly)

  • Source: Seed Savers Exchange, Baker Creek, Southern Exposure Seed Exchange (southernexposure.com)
  • Days: 55 days
  • Notes: Victorian heirloom. Round, golden-yellow skin and flesh. Sweet, fine-textured. Less pungent than white types. Beautiful color. Excellent for roasting. Stores well. Traditional favorite.

Yellow/Magenta Varieties

'Scarlet Queen'

  • Source: Baker Creek, Johnny's Selected Seeds
  • Days: 50 days
  • Notes: Hybrid. Red skin, white flesh. Round roots. Sweet, mild. Beautiful color. Good for fresh eating. Holds quality well.

Asian Varieties

'Tsuda'

  • Source: Baker Creek, Johnny's Selected Seeds
  • Days: 45 days
  • Notes: Japanese heirloom. Long, cylindrical white roots. Sweet, tender. Good for pickling, stir-frying. Traditional Asian variety. Cold tolerant.

'Kamurei'

  • Source: Johnny's Selected Seeds, Baker Creek
  • Days: 40 days
  • Notes: Japanese hybrid. Small, round, white. Sweet, crisp. Excellent raw. Fast growing. Good for succession planting.

Greens Varieties

'Seven Top'

  • Source: Seed Savers Exchange, Baker Creek, Southern Exposure
  • Days: 40 days (greens)
  • Notes: Southern heirloom. Grown specifically for greens, not roots. Large, tender, dark green leaves. Mild, sweet flavor. Cold hardy. Can overwinter. Traditional Southern greens. Produces many leaves.

🌾 Seed Saving

  • Method: Turnips are biennial—require vernalization (cold period) to flower. For seed saving, select best roots, leave in ground over winter (mulch heavily in zone 6b/7a) or dig and store in cool, humid place (root cellar at 35-40°F in damp sand), replant in spring. In spring, plants send up 3-5' branched flower stalks with clusters of yellow, four-petaled flowers.

Flowers are insect-pollinated (bees, flies). Seed pods (siliques) mature 4-6 weeks after flowering, turning from green to tan/brown. Cut stalks when most pods brown but before shattering.

Hang in paper bags in dry, ventilated area 2-3 weeks. Thresh by beating bags or rolling stalks. Winnow by pouring between bowls in breeze to separate seeds from chaff. - Isolation distance: 800 feet to 1 mile minimum.

Turnips cross-pollinate readily with other Brassica rapa varieties (Chinese cabbage, pak choi, tatsoi, broccoli raab, mustard greens—all same species). For pure seed, grow only one B. rapa variety or cage isolated plants with netting and hand-pollinate. - Viability: 4-5 years when stored in cool, dry, dark conditions in airtight containers.

Medium-sized seeds store well. - Special notes: Save seed from minimum 5-10 plants to maintain genetic diversity. Select for root shape, flavor, bolt resistance, disease resistance, greens quality. In zone 6b/7a, turnips can overwinter with heavy mulch (straw, leaves 12-18" deep).

Biennial requirement means seed saving requires two full seasons. Turnips cross readily with Asian greens (pak choi, tatsoi)—if growing multiple B. rapa crops, isolate or cage.

Turnip seed saving straightforward—overwinter roots, harvest seed in summer. Save from plants that survived winter best (cold hardiness), have best flavor, root quality..

Added to WV Planting Guide 26155 — The Loop Farmstead